System and method for associating financial transaction data with user&#39;s project data using a portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a system for viewing and manipulating a user&#39;s financial transaction data and a method for associating financial transaction data with a user&#39;s project data using a portable electronic device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/388,801, filed Feb. 19, 2009, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system and method for associating financialtransaction data with a user's project data in an application availableto a portable electronic device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business haveincreasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and astrong catalyst for economic development. The integration of informationand communications technology in business has revolutionizedrelationships within organizations and those between and amongorganizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of e-commerce ande-business solutions by businesses and individuals has enhancedproductivity, reduced costs, encouraged greater customer participation,and enabled mass customization.

E-commerce or e-business solutions may allow an individual to performfinancial transactions over the Internet through a secure website, orusing a mobile device operating a software application. This type ofservice enables customers to do their banking or financial transactionprocessing from anywhere where Internet or wireless data access isavailable. In many cases, a web browser is utilized and any normalInternet connection is suitable. In other cases, a software applicationis used on a portable electronic device such as a personal digitalassistant (“PDAs”), enterprise digital assistant, tablet, or mobilephone. These software applications can be pre-installed on a deviceduring manufacture, or downloaded from various mobile softwaredistribution platforms.

For example, financial institutions have recently begun offeringbusinesses a credit card account that offers account holders the optionof shifting invoice-based check spending to a business credit card.Business credit cards designed for contractors have the objective ofinducing them to do away with invoice-based payments by check and shiftto more frequent use of their business credit cards. Problematically, noconvenient method or system enabling such a customer or business tocategorize and allocate this financial transaction information currentlyexists.

Contractors and other businesses frequently make purchases or issuedisbursements for multiple projects, clients, or customers in a singlefinancial transaction. When a contractor uses an open-loop credit card,for example, to make a single purchase of multiple items for a varietyof projects, an electronic billing application generally allows thecontractor to view only limited data regarding the transaction (e.g.,the date, the name of the vendor, and the total dollar amount charged tothe credit card) and to electronically settle payment. However, acontractor (or other business or individual) cannot categorize orallocate a percentage or dollar amount of the total dollar amountcharged to the credit card at a point of sale to a particular project,job, or client matter. As a result, the contractor may need to collectand examine numerous paper receipts to properly charge their clients foritems purchased for a particular project.

Therefore, a convenient system and method for associating financialtransaction data with a user's project data using a portable electronicdevice is desired.

Further, a convenient system and method for allocating a percentage ordollar amount from financial transaction data available to auser-defined project category is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention comprises, in one form, an expense reporting system forviewing and manipulating a user's financial transaction data. The systemincludes a user's financial transaction data hosted in a data storageunit, addressable on a network, and accessible by a remote user on auser interface unit having a user input means and a display; and anexpense reporting module having a graphical user interface (GUI).

The expense reporting module includes a transaction retrieval componentoperable to access the user's financial transaction data and generaterepresentations thereof viewable by a user on the user interface unitdisplay; a category generation engine operable to generate user-definedproject category data and representations thereof viewable to a user onthe user interface unit display; a transaction categorization engineoperable to associate selected ones of the user's financial transactiondata representations with one or more of the user-defined projectcategory data representations; a GUI generation engine operable toexpress a graphical arrangement of the selected ones of the user'sfinancial transaction representations associated with the one or moreuser-defined project category data representations on the user interfaceunit display; and a data record generation engine operable to convertthe graphical arrangement into a data record, wherein the data record isin a form suitable for at least one of review, storage, modification,analysis, or exportation.

In another form, the invention includes a computer implemented methodfor expense reporting. The method includes the steps of: storing auser's financial transaction data on a data storage device such that theuser's financial transaction data is accessible by a user interfacedevice on a network; presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) fordisplaying representations of the accessed user's financial transactiondata on a user interface unit; defining project category data andgenerating representations thereof; associating representations of theuser's financial transaction data with user-defined project categorydata representations to create a graphical arrangement; and convertingthe graphical arrangement into a data record.

In another form, the invention includes an expense reporting system andmethod for viewing and manipulating a user's financial transaction dataon a portable electronic device or user interface unit. The system mayinclude a user's financial transaction data hosted in a data storageunit, addressable on a network, and accessible on a portable electronicdevice having a user input means and a display; and an expensecategorizing and reporting application. In some embodiments, theapplication may interface with one or more servers associated with,e.g., a financial institution. The servers may host or store a user'sfinancial transaction data. In some embodiments, the application mayallow a user to create, access, and modify categories (e.g., projectnames or numbers, customer names, matter numbers, etc.). In someembodiments, the application may permit a user to allocate expenses intoproject categories by, e.g., selecting and categorizing individualtransactions via tags, input boxes, menus, lists, movable icons, etc. Inother embodiments, the application may permit a user to allocate apercentage or dollar amount from a transaction to a particular projectcategory, or allocate a transaction among two or more project categories(e.g., “split” transactions). In some embodiments, the application maypermit a user to allocate or categorize multiple transactions into asingle project category (e.g., the user may be permitted to tag multipletransactions at once, or “quick tag”). In some embodiments, theapplication allows a user to input other information about a transactionor a project category such as detailed labor and mark-up data (that canbe used to, e.g., track profit margins). In other embodiments, theapplication can be used to create reports or export data to othersoftware applications such as accounting software.

In some embodiments, the application may allow a user to view vendor,seller, or store related information (e.g., products, prices, storelocations, and the like). A user may make reservations and/or purchasesat the stores through the application. For example, the portableelectronic device can be used to interface with a menu providing accessto vendor products or services (e.g., shown on a display of theelectronic device). Using the menu, the user can order productsavailable for purchase, send requests to schedule vendor delivery,arrange for services, etc. The application may then display a receipt orother purchase confirmation. The application may then permit a user toallocate some or all of the transaction-related data to one or moreproject categories. In some embodiments, the application may alsoprovide other checkout-related functions such as allowing a user toaccess rewards or points information, allowing a user to requestdelivery or additional services, providing coupons or additional offers,and showing and storing receipts.

In some embodiments, the application can provide social networkingabilities by allowing a user to locate colleagues, employees andcontractors (e.g., in the nearby area). In other embodiments, theapplication can provide the user with balance information or spendinglimit information, including information related to employee purchases.

In some embodiments, the invention includes a system and method having atransaction retrieval module operable to access the user's financialtransaction data and generate representations thereof viewable by a useron the portable electronic device or user interface unit display; acategory generation engine operable to generate user-defined projectcategory data and representations thereof viewable to a user on thedisplay of the portable electronic device; a transaction categorizationengine operable to associate selected ones of the user's financialtransaction data representations with one or more of the user-definedproject category data representations; a categorization engine operableto express an arrangement of graphics and text of the user's financialtransaction representations associated with the user-defined projectcategory data representations on the user interface unit display; and adata record generation engine operable to convert the arrangement into adata record, wherein the data record is in a form suitable for at leastone of review, storage, modification, analysis, or exportation.

In another form, the invention includes a method for expense reportingimplemented on a portable electronic device. The method includes thesteps of: storing a user's financial transaction data on a data storagedevice such that the user's financial transaction data is accessible bya portable electronic device on a network; presenting an applicationhaving representations of the accessed user's financial transactiondata; defining project category data; associating the user's financialtransaction data with user-defined project category data; and creating adata record including the associated user's financial transaction dataand user-defined project category data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is disclosed with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a system architecture suitable forimplementing a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating components of an expensereporting module in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A is a first illustrative view of a graphical user interfacedisplayed on a user interface unit for use with the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a second illustrative view of a graphical user interfacedisplayed on a user interface unit for use with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a user input form displayed on a user interface unit for usewith the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary data record generated by the system and method ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device forproviding an application in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of several situations during which a user canmake use of an application with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device duringwhich a user can make use of an application with some embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device forproviding an application in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device forproviding an application in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device forproviding an application in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention; and

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1A, a system architecture suitable forimplementing an embodiment of the expense reporting system of thepresent invention is shown. This system architecture includes a datastorage unit 110 connected to a processor 120, wherein the processor 120is addressable by a user interface unit 130 via a network 140.

The system architecture further includes an expense reporting module 150and a graphical user interface (“GUI”) 160 for display on user interfaceunit 130.

Financial transaction data is stored on a data storage unit 110.Financial transaction data is electronic data representing any type offinancial transaction, including, but not limited to: purchases, loans,mortgages, bank account transactions, credit card transactions, chargecard transactions, debit card transactions, stored value cardtransactions, like-kind transactions, payments in exchange for servicesrendered, disbursements, etc.

In one embodiment, financial transaction data may be created inconnection with use of a payment device in any transaction processingsystem 100 known in the art. Illustrative examples of transactionprocessing systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,947 to Mori;5,604,802 to Holloway; 4,375,032 to Uchida; 4,423,313 to Tanigaki;4,594,663 to Nagata; 4,423,318 to Gotou; 4,587,379 to Masuda; 5,809,483to Broka; 5,809,483 to Hafner; RE32,985 to Nagata; and 6,039,245 toSymonds. The payment device used in the transaction processing systemmay be any of a variety of devices. For example, the payment device maybe a credit card, a smart card, RFID card, other funds card, a specialdevice for effecting internet purchases, a program operating on acomputer system, a key FOB, a device with a bar code, a phone, a devicein a keychain, a processing component in an personal music device and/orany other payment device that is used by a user to effect a transaction.Further, the particular payment device may utilize a variety oftechnologies to interface with the a transaction processing system. Suchinterface used by the payment device may include magnetic stripetechnology, wireless technology and/or a computer network, for example.

When a payment device is used in a financial transaction at a paymentdevice activated terminal (e.g., automated teller machine (“ATMs”),point of sale (“POS”) terminal, and the like), the transactionprocessing system 100 processes and stores financial transaction datarelating to the transaction, for example, a customer's accountinformation and the amounts to be charged to a customer's account (andcredited to a account of a merchant). In addition to the customer'saccount information, the financial transaction data may also representmore detailed or “line-item” information regarding the transaction,including: purchase data, product data, product quantity data, purchasedate data, purchase price data, merchant data, part number data, productname data, stock keeping unit (SKU) number data, receipt number data,universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data,interest data, balance data, balance transfer data, debit card data,check data, line of credit access card data, and line of credittransaction card data, etc.

In one embodiment where the payment device is a credit card, amerchant's POS terminal reads information stored on the credit card, andsoftware at the POS terminal communicates the credit card informationand other financial transaction data in real-time to a financialinstitution or acquirer (e.g., bank, building society, thrift, creditunion, stock brokerage, asset management firm, or other credit cardissuing business) via the transaction processing system 100 (e.g., acredit card payment gateway, a VISA® Association network, etc.). Inaddition to the credit card information, the POS terminal software mayfurther transmit detailed line-item transaction data to the financialinstitution in real time via the transaction processing system 100.

In another embodiment, the merchant performs a “capture routine” at theend of each day where the merchant transmits details on all completedcredit card transactions for settlement with the financial institutionvia the transaction processing system 100. In this embodiment, themerchant may also transmit line-item transaction data along with theday's transaction data to the financial institution during settlement.

In a further embodiment, the financial institution may access line-itemdata regarding a customer's credit card transaction through anintermediary database. For example, the financial institution requestsan intermediary data broker to obtain line-item data from a merchantregarding a particular customer's credit card purchase. The intermediarydata broker obtains the requested data via a network from the merchant'smainframe, databases, or POS terminal, and thereafter transmits theline-item data to the financial institution.

In another embodiment, the merchant's POS terminal software accesses anintermediary database when processing a customer's transaction to obtainline-item data about a purchase in real time. For example, whenprocessing a debit card purchase, the software accesses an inventoryinformation approval system (“IIAS”) to obtain product information fromthe IIAS database. The POS then transmits the transaction details alongwith the retrieved line-item data to a financial institution via thetransaction processing system 100.

In a further embodiment, a customer or purchaser transmits line-itemdata about a purchase directly to their financial institution via apersonal device such as a cell phone, Blackberry®, smart phone, PDA,etc. connected to a network. In this embodiment, the purchaser directlyinputs UPC, SKU, or other data into the personal device while shopping,and thereafter transmits the data to the financial institution.Alternatively, while processing the purchase a POS terminal transmitsline-item data wirelessly from the merchant's database directly to thecustomer's personal input device (e.g., via Bluetooth, RFID, infrared,etc.). The customer then transmits the data directly from the inputdevice to the financial institution. In a further embodiment, themerchant's POS terminal transmits line-item data about a customer'spurchase via electronic mail directly to the customer and/or thefinancial institution.

Once received, the financial institution stores the customer's financialtransaction data in data storage unit 110 for use in connection with aservice (e.g., expense reporting, e-banking, internet banking,e-statements, e-commerce, business-to-business (B2B) transactions,business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions, internet sales, or others knownin the art). Illustrative examples of such services are described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,220,501 to Lawlor; 6,334,116 to Ganesan; 6,880,079 toKefford; 5,903,881 to Schrader; 6,609,113 to O'Leary; and 6,606,606 toStarr. Among other things, the service may allow a customer to viewfinancial transaction data via a user interface unit 130, described morefully herein.

The data storage unit 110 is connected to a processor 120. The processorexecutes commands and instructions, and may be a general purposecomputer, but may utilize any of a wide variety of other technologiesincluding: a special purpose computer, a microcomputer, mini-computer,mainframe computer, programmed micro-processor, micro-controller,peripheral integrated circuit element, a CSIC (Customer SpecificIntegrated Circuit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), alogic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic devicesuch as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), PLD (Programmable LogicDevice), PLA (Programmable Logic Array), RFID integrated circuits, smartchip, or any other device or arrangement of devices that is capable ofimplementing the steps of the processes of the invention.

The processor 120 is addressable by a user interface unit 130. Userinterface unit 130 may exchange data with the processor 120 in adistributed computing environment linked through a communicationsnetwork 140 (e.g., the Internet). User interface unit 130 may includeany hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software thatallows a user to interact with the processor 120. For example, userinterface unit 130 may be any computer system configuration, including,but not limited to: hand-held wireless devices such as mobile phones orPDAs, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personalcomputers, and the like. User interface unit 130 may also include any ofa mouse, touch screen, keyboard, voice reader, voice recognizer,dialogue screen, menu box, list, checkbox, toggle switch, a pushbuttonor any other device that allows a user to receive information regardingthe operation of the processor 120 as it processes a set of instructionsand/or provides the user interface unit 130 with data or information.Accordingly, the user interface unit 130 is any device that providescommunication between a user and a processor 120. Information providedby the user to the processor 120 through the user interface unit 130 maybe in the form of a command, a selection of data, or some other input,for example.

As discussed above, the user interface unit 130 is typically used forinteracting with the processor 120 either to convey information orreceive information. However, it should be appreciated that inaccordance with some embodiments of the system and method of theinvention, it is not necessary that a human user actually interact withprocessor 120. Rather, it is also contemplated that the processor 120 ofthe invention might interact, i.e., convey and receive information, withanother processing machine, rather than a human user. Accordingly, theother processing machine might be characterized as a user. Further, itis contemplated that a processor 120 utilized in the system and methodof the invention may interact partially with another processing machineor processing machines, while also interacting partially with a humanuser.

The financial transaction management system as shown in may be practicedwith various computer system configurations and may be described in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc.that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may belocated in both local and remote computer storage media including memorystorage devices.

In one embodiment, the financial transaction management system mayinclude an operating system, application programs, program modules, andprogram data. The operating system may be or include a variety ofoperating systems such as Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unixoperating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operatingsystem, the IBM AIX™ operating system, the Hewlett Packard UX™ operatingsystem, the Novell Netware™ operating system, the Sun MicrosystemsSolaris™ operating system, the OS/2™ operating system, the BeOS™operating system, the Macintosh™® operating system, the Apache™operating system, an OpenStep™ operating system or another operatingsystem of platform.

The system of the present invention may further include a memoryincluding at least one set of instructions that is either permanently ortemporarily stored. The processor 120 executes the instructions that arestored in order to process data. The set of instructions may includevarious instructions that perform a particular task or tasks, such asthose shown in the appended flowcharts. Such a set of instructions forperforming a particular task may be characterized as a program, softwareprogram, software, engine, module, component, mechanism, or tool.

The system may also include one or more software processing modulesstored in a memory as described above and executed on a processor in themanner described herein. The program modules may be in the form of anysuitable programming language, which is converted to machine language orobject code to allow the processor or processors to read theinstructions. That is, written lines of programming code or source code,in a particular programming language, may be converted to machinelanguage using a compiler, assembler, or interpreter. The machinelanguage may be binary coded machine instructions specific to aparticular computer.

Any suitable programming language may be used in accordance with thevarious embodiments of the invention. Illustratively, the programminglanguage used may include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++,COBOL, dBase, Forth, FORTRAN, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX,and/or JavaScript for example. Further, it is not necessary that asingle type of instruction or programming language be utilized inconjunction with the operation of the system and method of theinvention. Rather, any number of different programming languages may beutilized as is necessary or desirable.

Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of the inventionmay utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as maybe desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further,files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module.

In one embodiment, the system of the present invention includes anexpense reporting module 150 enabling a user to organize financialtransaction data into categories. The expense reporting module 150 maybe stored in a computer memory, preferably a RAM (not shown), so as tobe easily accessible to the processor 120 or other processing unit. Asshown in FIG. 1B, the expense reporting module 150 may include: agraphical user interface (GUI) generation engine 152; a transactionretrieval component 154; a category generation component 156; a codegeneration component 158; a transaction categorization engine 162; adata record generation engine 164; a data record manipulation component166; and a code association component 168.

The expense reporting module 150 may further include a GUI 160 generatedby GUI generation engine 152. As contemplated by the present invention,a GUI 160 is a type of user interface which allows a user to interactwith a computer and computer-controlled devices which employ graphicalicons, visual indicators or special graphical elements, along with text,labels or text navigation to represent data or actions available to auser. The GUI 160 enhances the usability of the underlying expensereporting module. The GUI 160 may include graphical elements (widgets)that may be used to interact with the expense reporting module. The GUI160 may include common widgets such as windows, buttons, menus, scrollbars, and frames or containers for the presentation of content such as aweb page.

In one embodiment, the expense reporting module 150 is operable toaccess a user's financial transaction data stored in data storage unit110 through the transaction retrieval component 154. As shown in FIGS.2A and 2B, the module generates representations of the user's financialtransaction data viewable by a user on GUI 160 displayed on the userinterface unit 130. Representations of the user's financial transactiondata may be graphical icons, visual indicators, alpha-numeric text,special graphical elements, or the like. In one embodiment, the modulegenerates alpha-numeric text and graphical representations 220 of theuser's financial transaction data, and presents the representations 220in a list 230 viewable on the display of a user interface unit 130.

The expense reporting module 150 may further enable a user to define oneor more project categories through the category generation engine 156. Aproject category may be any designation defined by a user to organize,systematize, classify, or categorize financial transaction datarepresented by financial transaction data representations 220. Forexample, a user may desire to categorize financial transaction data byproject, matter, job, client, number, customer, and the like.

The expense reporting module 150 may present the user with an input form300, profile window, or similar dialogue screen like that shown in FIG.3 to prompt the user to define a project category through the categorygeneration engine 156. A user may input any variety of data in anynumber of data input fields presented by the input form 300. Data inputfields may include category name 310, description 320, picture 330,user-defined code identifier 340, and date 350. Once a user inputsuser-defined category data, the module may generate alpha-numeric textand/or graphical representations 250 of the user-defined category data,and present the representations 250 in a manner viewable by a user onGUI 160 displayed on the user interface unit 130. A user may define anynumber or variety of project categories.

The expense reporting module 150 may generate and link a user-definedproject category with a user-defined code identifier 340 through a codegeneration component 158 and a code association component 168. Theuser-defined code identifier may be any combination of letters,numerals, symbols, etc. desired by the user to designate a particularproject category. For example, a user-defined code identifier may be ajob code, matter number, client number, or the like.

In one embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, GUI 160, through the GUI generationengine 152, presents financial transaction data representations 220and/or user-defined category data representations 250 as graphicalelements capable of being manipulated by a user. For example, the GUI160 may enable a user to select ones of the user's financial transactionrepresentations 220 and “click and drag” or “drag and drop” the selectedrepresentation. Generally, “drag and drop” is the action of (or supportfor the action of) clicking on a virtual object and dragging it to adifferent location or onto another virtual object in the context of aGUI. In general, it can be used to invoke many kinds of actions, orcreate various types of associations between two abstract objects. Thebasic sequence involved in “drag and drop” is: a user presses, and holdsdown, a button on a mouse or other pointing device operatively connectedto user interface unit 120 to “grab” a selected one of representations220, “drags” the selected representation 220/cursor/pointing device to adesired location, and “drops” the representation 220 by releasing thebutton.

The GUI 160 may further enable a user to “drag and drop” selected onesof the user's financial transaction data representations 220 onto one ormore user-defined project category data representations 250. Once a user“drops” a selected representation 220 on a project category datarepresentation 250, the transaction categorization engine 162 willassociate data represented by the selected financial transaction datarepresentation 220 with the data represented by the user-defined projectcategory data representation 250. As should be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art, a user may “click and drag” or “drag anddrop” one or more financial transaction data representations 220 ontoone or more user-defined project category data representations 250 toorganize the financial data into categories, and for viewing, modifying,or processing the data. In a further embodiment, the transactioncategorization engine 162 is operable to reverse the process and enablea user to remove, delete, or “drag and drop” transaction datarepresentations 220 to effect a dis-association with one or more of theuser-defined project category data representations 250.

The expense reporting module 150 may further express a graphicalarrangement of the selected ones of the user's financial transactionrepresentations 220 associated with the one or more user-defined projectcategory data representations 250. As shown in FIG. 4, the data recordgeneration engine 164 may convert the graphical arrangement into a datarecord 400, wherein the data record is in a form suitable for at leastone of: review by a user 410, storage in a memory, analysis 420 ormodification 430 by a user or processor, or exportation 440 in a formusable by another software program or application. For example, a usermay view a data record 400 (containing all or some of the financial dataassociated with a particular user-defined category), download the datarecord, or export the data record to a personal finance managementapplication such as Quicken®, Microsoft Money®, or the like.

In a further embodiment, a user may click, select, or otherwise choose auser-defined category data representation 250 to view, modify, orprocess the data record 400 associated with that user-defined category.For example, a user may click on a user-defined category datarepresentation 250 and view a linked webpage that includes a list of thefinancial transactions associated with the category.

The expense reporting module 150 may further include a data recordmanipulation component 166 whereby a user can manually edit or otherwisemanipulate the data record. In such embodiments, the user may addfurther data to the record, such as labor costs and mark-up information.As a result, the user is enabled to track profit margins. Additionally,the data record manipulation component 166 may enable a user to createreceipts, invoices, or other summaries of a data record 450 that can bestored, printed, or exported. The expense reporting module 150 mayfurther include other processes, for example, a tax calculation process,a financial analysis process, or the like, to create a customizedreceipt (including a user's purchases and appropriate tax calculation orother information), and charts or graphs representing expenditures overa specified time period.

The expense reporting module 150 may further enable a user to associateonly a desired portion of the user's financial transaction datarepresented by one of the representations 220 with one or more of theuser-defined project categories. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B,representation 220 may represent financial transaction data including anamount of currency or credit (e.g., a dollar amount). When a userselects representation 220 and “drags and drops” representation 220 on auser-defined project category representation 250, the user may beprompted to designate a percentage of the total amount of currency, orsome amount less than, equal to, or greater than the total amount ofcurrency, for association with the user-defined category. The module maypresent the user with an input form, profile window, or similar dialoguescreen to input the desired percentage or currency amount.

The expense reporting module 150 is further operable to generate a barcode through a bar code generation component (not shown) including atleast data representing the user-defined code identifier 340, torepresent a user-defined project category linked to the code identifierthrough code association component 168. In practice, a user mayelectronically display or print the bar code, and thereafter have thebar code scanned in connection with presenting a payment device at a POSor other terminal. The bar code data may be linked to and transmittedwith some or all of the financial transaction data for processing orstorage by a financial institution. In another embodiment, a POS mayprompt a user for a user-defined code identifier upon presenting apayment device to transmit the user-defined code identifier with some orall of the financial transaction data. The transaction categorizationengine 162 may then automatically associate the user's financialtransaction data linked to the user-defined code identifier to theuser-defined project category data linked with the same or acorresponding user-defined code identifier. As a result, the system willalso associate financial transaction data representations with auser-defined project category data representation without the need for auser to “drag and drop” or otherwise manually manipulate the financialtransaction data representations.

The computing environment of the financial transaction management systemof the present invention may also include other removable/nonremovable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. For example, a hard diskdrive may read or write to nonremovable, nonvolatile magnetic media. Amagnetic disk drive may read from or writes to a removable, nonvolatilemagnetic disk, and an optical disk drive may read from or write to aremovable, nonvolatile optical disk such as a CD ROM or other opticalmedia. Other removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computerstorage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environmentinclude, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memorycards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM,solid state ROM, and the like. The storage media are typically connectedto the system bus through a removable or non-removable memory interface.

It should be appreciated that the processors and/or memories of thecomputer system need not be physically in the same location. Each of theprocessors and each of the memories used by the computer system may bein geographically distinct locations and be connected so as tocommunicate with each other in any suitable manner. Additionally, it isappreciated that each of the processor and/or memory may be composed ofdifferent physical pieces of equipment.

Various networks may be implemented in accordance with embodiments ofthe invention, including a wired or wireless local area network (LAN)and a wide area network (WAN), wireless personal area network (PAN) andother types of networks. When used in a LAN networking environment,computers may be connected to the LAN through a network interface oradapter. When used in a WAN networking environment, computers typicallyinclude a modem or other communication mechanism. Modems may be internalor external, and may be connected to the system bus via the user-inputinterface, or other appropriate mechanism. Computers may be connectedover the Internet, an Intranet, Extranet, Ethernet, or any other systemthat provides communications. Some suitable communications protocols mayinclude TCP/IP, UDP, or OSI for example. For wireless communications,communications protocols may include Bluetooth, Zigbee, IrDa or othersuitable protocol. Furthermore, components of the system may communicatethrough a combination of wired or wireless paths.

Although many other internal components of the computer are not shown,those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such componentsand the interconnections are well known. Accordingly, additional detailsconcerning the internal construction of the computer need not bedisclosed in connection with the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 5, a computer implemented method 500 for managingproject financial transactions is illustrated in a flow diagram. Auser's financial transaction data is stored 501 on a data storage devicesuch that the user's financial transaction data is retrievable via anetwork. The user's financial transaction data is accessed 502, forexample, by the system of the present invention hereinbefore described.A graphical user interface (GUI) viewable by a user on the userinterface device is presented 503 for displaying representations of theuser's financial transaction data. Project categories are then defined504 via the user interface unit to generate 505 representations of theuser-defined project category data. The user may then drag and drop orotherwise arrange 506 representations of the user's financialtransaction data onto user-defined expense category data representationsto create a graphical arrangement. The graphical arrangement is thenconverted 507 into a data record, wherein the data record is in a formsuitable for at least one of review, storage, analysis, modification, orexportation. The data record may then be reviewed 508, modified 509,analyzed 510, stored in a memory 511, or exported 512 to another programor application.

Optionally, a desired percentage or portion of currency represented byone of the selected ones of the user's financial transactionrepresentations is associated with one or more of the user-definedproject category data representations (not shown).

Additionally, a code identifier may be generated or defined 530. Thedefined code identifier may be linked to a user-defined projectcategory. A bar code representing the user-defined project categorylinked to the user-defined code identifier may then be generated 531.The user-defined project category linked with a user-defined codeidentifier may then be automatically associated with a user's financialtransaction data linked to a corresponding user-defined code identifier.

Turning to FIG. 6, a schematic view of an illustrative portableelectronic device for providing an application in accordance with someembodiments of the invention is shown. Electronic device 600 can includecontrol circuitry 602, storage 604, memory 606, I/O circuitry 608, andcommunications circuitry 610. In some embodiments, one or more of thecomponents of portable electronic device 600 can be combined or omitted(e.g., storage 604 and memory 606 can be combined). In some embodiments,electronic device 600 can include other components not combined orincluded in those shown in FIG. 6 (e.g., motion detection components,bar code reader, camera, a power supply such as a battery, a display, apositioning system, or an input mechanism), or several instances of thecomponents shown in FIG. 6. For the sake of simplicity, only one of eachof the components is shown in FIG. 6.

Portable electronic device 600 can include any suitable type ofelectronic device. For example, portable electronic device 600 caninclude a portable electronic device that the user may hold in his orher hand, such as a mobile phone, including smartphones and featurephones (e.g., an iPhone™ made available by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino,Calif., USA), a tablet (e.g., an iPad™ made available by Apple, Inc. ofCupertino, Calif., USA), a personal e-mail device (e.g., a Blackberry™made available by Research in Motion of Waterloo, Ontario), a personaldata assistant (“PDA”), a handheld gaming device (e.g., the PlaystationPortable or PSP™ made available by Sony Corporation of Minato, Tokyo,Japan), and/or a digital camera. As another example, portable electronicdevice 600 can include a larger portable electronic device, such as alaptop computer.

Control circuitry 602 can include any processing circuitry or processoroperative to control the operations and performance of electronic device600. For example, control circuitry 602 can be used to run operatingsystem applications, firmware applications, media playback applications,media editing applications, or any other application. In someembodiments, control circuitry 602 can drive a display and processinputs received from a user interface.

Storage 604 can include, for example, one or more storage mediumsincluding a hard-drive, solid state drive, flash memory, permanentmemory such as ROM, any other suitable type of storage component, or anycombination thereof. Storage 604 can store, for example, media data(e.g., music and video files), application data (e.g., for implementingfunctions on electronic device 600), firmware, user preferenceinformation data (e.g., notification preferences), authenticationinformation (e.g. libraries of data associated with authorized users),lifestyle or business information data (e.g., vendor preferences),transaction information data (e.g., information such as credit cardinformation), wireless connection information data (e.g., informationthat can enable electronic device 600 to establish a wirelessconnection), subscription information data, contact information data(e.g., telephone numbers and email addresses), calendar informationdata, and any other suitable data or any combination thereof.

Memory 606 can include cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM,and/or one or more different types of memory used for temporarilystoring data. In some embodiments, memory 606 can also be used forstoring data used to operate portable electronic device applications, orany other type of data that can be stored in storage 604. In someembodiments, memory 606 and storage 604 can be combined as a singlestorage medium.

I/O circuitry 608 can be operative to convert (and encode/decode, ifnecessary) analog signals and other signals into digital data. In someembodiments, I/O circuitry 608 can also convert digital data into anyother type of signal, and vice-versa. For example, I/O circuitry 608 canreceive and convert physical contact inputs (e.g., from a multi-touchscreen), physical movements (e.g., from a mouse or sensor), analog audiosignals (e.g., from a microphone), or any other input. The digital datacan be provided to and received from control circuitry 602, storage 604,memory 606, or any other component of portable electronic device 600.Although I/O circuitry 608 is illustrated in FIG. 6 as a singlecomponent of portable electronic device 600, several instances of I/Ocircuitry 608 can be included in portable electronic device 600.

Portable electronic device 600 can include any suitable interface orcomponent for allowing a user to provide inputs to I/O circuitry 608.For example, portable electronic device 600 can include any suitableinput mechanism, such as for example, a button, keypad, dial, a clickwheel, or a touch screen. In some embodiments, electronic device 600 caninclude a capacitive sensing mechanism, or a multi-touch capacitivesensing mechanism.

In some embodiments, portable electronic device 600 can includespecialized output circuitry associated with output devices such as,e.g., one or more audio outputs. The audio output can include one ormore speakers (e.g., mono or stereo speakers) built into portableelectronic device 600, or an audio component that is remotely coupled toportable electronic device 600 (e.g., a headset, headphones, speakers,or earbuds that can be coupled to communications device with a wire orwirelessly).

In some embodiments, I/O circuitry 608 can include display circuitry(e.g., a screen or projection system) for providing a display visible tothe user. For example, the display circuitry can include a screen (e.g.,an LCD screen) that is incorporated in portable electronics device 600.As another example, the display circuitry can include a movable displayor a projecting system for providing a display of content on a surfaceremote from electronic device 600 (e.g., a video projector). In someembodiments, the display circuitry can include a coder/decoder (Codec)to convert digital media data into analog signals. For example, thedisplay circuitry (or other appropriate circuitry within portableelectronic device 600) can include video Codecs, audio Codecs, or anyother suitable type of Codec.

The display circuitry also can include display driver circuitry,circuitry for driving display drivers, or both. The display circuitrycan be operative to display content (e.g., application screens forapplications implemented on the portable electronic device, informationregarding ongoing communications operations, information regardingincoming communications requests, or device operation screens) under thedirection of control circuitry 602. Alternatively, the display circuitrycan be operative to provide instructions to a remote display.

Communications circuitry 610 can include any suitable communicationscircuitry operative to connect to a communications network and totransmit communications (e.g., voice or data) from portable electronicdevice 600 to other devices within the communications network.Communications circuitry 610 can be operative to interface with thecommunications network using any suitable communications protocoldiscussed above such as, e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio frequencysystems, infrared, GSM, GSM plus EDGE, CDMA, other cellular protocols,VoIP, or any other suitable protocol.

In some embodiments, communications circuitry 610 can be operative tocreate a communications network using any suitable communicationsprotocol. For example, communications circuitry 610 can create ashort-range communications network using a short-range communicationsprotocol to connect to other devices. For example, communicationscircuitry 610 can be operative to create a local communications networkusing the Bluetooth protocol to couple electronic device 600 with aBluetooth headset.

Portable electronic device 600 can include one more instances ofcommunications circuitry 610 for simultaneously performing severalcommunications operations using different communications networks. Forexample, portable electronic device 600 can include a first instance ofcommunications circuitry 610 for communicating over a cellular network,and a second instance of communications circuitry 610 for communicatingover Wi-Fi. In some embodiments, the same instance of communicationscircuitry 610 can be operative to provide for communications overseveral communications networks.

In some embodiments, portable electronic device 600 can be coupled to ahost device for data transfers, synching the communications device,software or firmware updates, providing performance information to aremote source or performing any other suitable operation that canrequire portable electronic device 600 to be coupled to a host device.Several portable electronic devices 600 can be coupled to a single hostdevice using the host device as a server. Alternatively or additionally,portable electronic device 600 can be coupled to several host devices(e.g., for each of the plurality of the host devices to serve as abackup for data stored in electronic device 600).

In some embodiments, portable electronic device 600 may include anapplication operative to interface with a expense reporting system. Forexample, through the application, a user can create, define, modify ordelete project categories and assign or associate transaction data withone or more categories. As another example, the application allows theuser to allocate expenses into project categories by, e.g., selectingand categorizing transactions or expenses. In other embodiments, theapplication may permit a user to allocate certain percentages or dollaramounts from individual transactions to a particular project category.In some embodiments, the application allows a user to input otherinformation such as detailed labor and mark-up data (that can be usedto, e.g., track profit margins).

In other embodiments, the application may allow a user to view vendor,seller, or store related information (e.g., products, prices, storelocations, and the like). A user may make reservations and/or purchasesat the stores through the application. For example, the electronicdevice can be used to interface with a menu providing access to vendorproducts or services (e.g., shown on a display of the electronicdevice). Using the menu, the user can order products available forpurchase, send requests to schedule vendor delivery, arrange forservices, etc. The application may then display a receipt or otherpurchase confirmation. The application may then permit a user toallocate some or all of the transaction-related data to one or moreproject categories. In some embodiments, the application may alsoprovide other checkout-related functions such as allowing a user toaccess rewards or points information, allowing a user to requestdelivery or additional services, providing coupons or additional offers,and showing and storing receipts. In some embodiments, the applicationcan provide social networking abilities by allowing a user to locatecolleagues, employees and contractors (e.g., in the nearby area).

The portable electronic device can interface with the expense reportingsystem or financial institution (e.g., a bank, a credit card company, aloan company, etc.) or other company or institution using any suitableapproach. In some embodiments, the portable electronic device cansecurely connect to one or more servers associated with the financialinstruction. For example, the portable electronic device can connectwith servers associated with credit card or debit card transactions. Asanother example, the portable electronic device can connect with serversassociated with vendors, shops, or stores, for which the user can makereservations, purchases, or access information. As another example, theportable electronic device can be used to scan barcodes of products, asdiscussed above.

Through the application of the portable electronic device, a user canperform different operations. FIG. 7 shows diagram 700 of severalsituations during which a user can make use of an application in thecontext of the expense reporting system. These situations may include,for example, creation or management of project categories 702 (e.g.,project name or number, customer name, job name, etc., as discussedabove). These project categories (referred to in FIG. 7 as “tags”) canbe created on the portable electronic device, or online. Othersituations can include transaction association scenario when a userassociates transaction data with a user-defined project category;reporting scenario where a user can view a particular project categoryand its associated transactions or expenses; and purchase or deliveryscenario where a user executes purchases or reservations. Anothersituation can include a post-transaction scenario after a user hascompleted a transaction and wishes to view rewards points, coupons, etc.One skilled in the art could appreciate that the functions of FIG. 7 arenot limited to the above examples and may include any suitable functionsor be used in any suitable scenario.

As generally indicated in diagram 700, a user can create, access, andmodify project categories or custom tags through an application on theuser's portable electronic device. For example, interface 702 shows anexemplary interface to allow a user to access project categories throughportable electronic device 704. By way of example, but not limitation, auser can enter information describing a particular project category,customer, matter, or the like. The application may also permit the userto associate a picture or other graphic with a particular category.

Also, the application may permit a user to enter information describinga particular transaction, giving context to a particular transaction orassociating a particular transaction or expense with one or more projectcategories in one or more input boxes. The information can be enteredthrough any suitable input component such as an input, a keyboard,toggle, or the like. The user's transaction information can be accessed(e.g., for viewing, editing, reporting or for any other suitablefunction) by selecting.

In some embodiments, an application can notify a user about atransaction and provide transaction information, for example, “realtime,” near-real time, or at a preselected time, in any suitable mannersuch as, for example, a push notification (e.g., a notification thatutilizes an internet protocol (“IP”) connection to forward notificationsfrom the servers of third party applications to an electronic device asshown in FIG. 8), an e-mail sent to the user's e-mail account, a pop-upnotification, or the like. A notification can also be provided with asignal such as a sound, a vibration, a light, or the like. Thenotification can include itself or direct the user to information suchas, e.g., existence of the transaction 802, store location, date, time,dollar amount, product names, employee, credit card or debit card nameor type, etc. Following a notification the user can be, for example,presented with various options and information regarding one or moretransactions, including, e.g., options to associate the transaction witha particular project category.

In some embodiments, the application can provide vendor, store,product-level or service-level information (e.g., information aboutlocal vendors, stores, shops, etc.). The provided information can befree or can be available for purchase. For example, a user can perform asecure transaction through the application (e.g., by using a credit cardor debit card, as discussed above) to purchase products or services.

As is also generally indicated by FIGS. 6-8, a user can view informationand reports via the application such as those described in detail aboveincluding, e.g., transaction details, account balance, spending limit,transactions over time (for example, all transactions made over the last60 days), transactions by employee or for all employees, transactionsper project, transactions per store or vendor, transactions by dollaramount. The portable electronic device can also provide for a secureconnection to allow a user to transmit or export reports to recipientsor software such as Quickbooks or others, as described above.

In some embodiments, a user can find employees, vendors, stores, orproducts through the application. For example, an employee's portableelectronic device can include a positioning system to determine theemployee's location. The employee's portable electronic device can thentransmit this location information to the user's portable electronicdevice. In response to determining that an employee is at a particularlocation, the application may then provide a notification to the userthat the employee is there, display a map showing the location of theemployee, provide contact information for the employee (e.g., from aaddress book stored on or accessible by the portable electronic device),or any combination of the above.

In other embodiments, additional functions may be available to a user inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention. Through theapplication, the employee may monitor employee transactions, spendinglimit, and balance. A user may review and control the spending limitavailable to an employee as shown in, e.g. FIG. 9.

In some embodiments, a user can connect the electronic device to a dockfor providing audio playback, video playback, or both. For example,portable electronic device can couple to one or more video playbacksystems (e.g., a computer monitor, a television, DVD player, Blu-rayplayer, any other suitable video playback system, or any combination ofthe above) through a dock.

In some embodiments, a user can specify user preferences and profileinformation. For example, the application can provide the user with amenu giving the user access to application options or customizations(e.g., a menu displayed on the portable electronic device to permit auser to manage preferences with respect to project categories or tags).Additionally, based on the user preferences and profile information, themenus, display, reports, notifications, and other items can bepersonalized for the user. For example, certain project categories ortransactions can be prioritized such that they are displayed moreprominently (e.g., are displayed at the top of the list, in differentcolors, are the only categories displayed, are displayed in bold, andthe like).

Also, in addition to notifications, reminders can be provided to a userthrough the application of the portable electronic device. For example,a reminder such as a bill payment due date or invoice due date can beprovided through the portable electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice can vibrate, sound an alarm, or otherwise alert a user at thedesired time or upon the occurrence of a notification). As anotherexample, reminders of scheduled appointments can be provided through theapplication. Reminders can be provided through any suitable notificationsuch as, for example, a push notification, an e-mail notification, aphone call, a pop-up notification, etc.

In some embodiments, the portable electronic device can photograph,scan, save and/or store receipts from a store or vendor and otherservice providers (e.g., restaurants, transportation, etc.). Forexample, the receipts can be gathered as back-up documentation tofacilitate the reimbursement of expenses.

The process discussed above is intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. Persons skilled in the art could appreciate that steps of theprocess discussed herein can be omitted, modified, combined, orrearranged, and any additional steps can be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention.

The examples set out herein illustrate several embodiments of theinvention but should not be construed as limiting the scope of theinvention in any manner.

EXAMPLE 1

A user purchases a plurality of goods from a merchant such as HomeDepot® for a renovation project (“Project A”) and a charitable event(“Project B”) in a single transaction totaling $100.00 using a paymentdevice such as a credit card. The credit card transaction is processedby any means known in the art, and financial data relating to thetransaction is stored by a financial institution (e.g., the credit cardissuer) on a data storage unit connected to a processor for use inassociation with an online expense reporting service. The user logs-inor otherwise accesses the service provided by the financial institutionvia a computer connected to the Internet. When the user accesses theservice, the user's financial transaction data is accessed and presentedvia a GUI on a website including graphical representations of the user'sfinancial transaction data. The user is thus able to view graphicalrepresentations of any or all of the purchases made with the creditcard, including the $100 transaction at Home Depot®. The user definesproject categories using an input form, e.g., “Project A” and “ProjectB,” and thereafter the system generates graphical representations of the“Project A” and “Project B” categories. The user then selects thegraphical representation of the $100.00 Home Depot® transaction with apointer or cursor, and “drags and drops” the representation onto thegraphical representation of “Project A.” The system may then prompt theuser to designate a percentage of the total $100.00, or some desiredamount less than, equal to, or greater than $100.00, for associationwith the “Project A” category. The plurality of goods purchased for therenovation project (“Project A”) totaled $50.00. The user designates 50%of the $100.00 for association with the “Project A” category. The systemthen associates data representing $50.00 with the “Project A” categoryand expresses a graphical arrangement of the $50.00 data representationassociated with “Project A.” The user may choose to repeat the steps inorder to associate the remainder of the $100.00 Home Depot® transactionwith “Project B.” The system then converts the graphical arrangementinto a data record. The data record is in a form suitable for at leastone of: review by the user, storage in a memory, analysis ormodification by the user or a processor, or exportation in a form usableby another software program or application.

EXAMPLE 2

Further to EXAMPLE 1 above, the user views the data record associatedwith “Project A” via the website, and thereafter exports the data recordto Microsoft Money®.

EXAMPLE 3

Further to EXAMPLE 1 above, the user views the data record associatedwith “Project A” and uses the system's data record manipulationcomponent to edit the data record by adding labor costs and mark-upinformation. Additionally, the user prompts the system to create aninvoice from the edited data record.

EXAMPLE 4

Further to EXAMPLE 1 above, the financial transaction data relating tothe $100 Home Depot® transaction includes not only the total amount paidto the merchant ($100.00), but a variety of line-item detailstransmitted by Home Depot® to the credit card issuer via a “captureroutine” performed by Home Depot® at the end of the day during theprocess of settling with the credit card issuer. The user viewsgraphical representations of any or all of the line-item detailsrelating to the transaction on the website page, and selectivelymanipulates or “drags and drops” any or each of the graphicalrepresentations of the line item details onto the “Project A” categoryrepresentation.

EXAMPLE 5

Further to EXAMPLE 1, the user defines a third project category using aninput form, e.g., “Project C,” and the system generates a graphicalrepresentation of the “Project C” category. The user further designates“Project C” with a user-defined code identifier “092580,” representing ajob code. The user prompts the system to generate a bar code includinguser-defined code identifier “092580” to represent “Project C.” The userprints the bar code and brings the bar code to the merchant AHYHardware™ to purchase tools for use in “Project C.” The merchant scansthe bar code in conjunction with processing the user's credit card atthe merchant's POS or other terminal to purchase the tools. The bar codedata, including the identifier “092580” is linked to and transmittedwith some or all of the tool purchase transaction data for processing orstorage by the financial institution. The transaction categorizationengine then automatically associates the tool purchase transaction datalinked to the user-defined code identifier “092580” to “Project C.” As aresult, the user will not need to “drag and drop” or otherwise manuallymanipulate graphical representations of tool purchase transaction toassociate them with category “Project C.”

EXAMPLE 6

A user purchases a plurality of goods from a merchant such as HomeDepot® for two renovation projects (“Bennett Patio”) and (“KendylBasement”) in a single transaction totaling $110.95 using a paymentdevice such as a cash advance associated with a credit card. The cardtransaction is processed by any means known in the art, and financialdata relating to the transaction is stored by a financial institution(e.g., a bank or the credit card issuer) on a data storage unitconnected to a processor for use in association with an expensereporting system. The user accesses the service provided by thefinancial institution via a portable electronic device connected to awireless data network. The user receives a notification on the portableelectronic device, e.g., the notification 802 shown in FIG. 8. The usercan access the application by selecting a graphical button shown as“Review” 803. When the user accesses an application operating on theportable electronic device, the user's financial transaction data isaccessed and presented on the display in graphical and textualrepresentations of the user's financial transaction data, as shown in,e.g., FIG. 10. These representations of the transactions can beorganized according to any suitable means or the preferences of theuser, such as by date, amount, store or vendor, employee, etc. Throughthe application, the user is able to view representations of any or allof the purchases made with the payment device, including the $110.95transaction at Home Depot®. The user can selectively define projectcategories using, by way of example, an input form and a virtualkeyboard, e.g., “Bennett Patio” and “Kendyl Basement,” and thereafterthe system generates “Bennett Patio” and “Kendyl Basement” categoriesand tags for the same. The user then selects the representation of the$110.95 Home Depot® transaction by touching the display and selectingthe representation of the transaction, as shown in FIG. 8. Theapplication then displays, for example, a list of some or alluser-defined categories, including “Bennett Patio” and “KendylBasement,” as shown in FIG. 8. The user can then select a graphical orother indicator to “tag” to categorize or associate the Home Depot®transaction information with the user-defined category “Bennett Patio,”as shown in FIG. 8. The application may highlight or change the color ofa category's representation to indicate that it has been selected asshown in FIG. 11. The application may then prompt the user to designatea percentage of the total $110.95, or some desired amount less than,equal to, or greater than $110.95, for association with the “BennettPatio” category, as shown in FIG. 11. The amount of the transaction tobe associated with the category may be inputted in an suitable way,including, e.g., an input box and virtual keyboard 1102, as shown. Theplurality of goods purchased for the Bennett Patio renovation projecttotaled $57.45. The user enters $57.45 for association with the “BennettPatio” category. The application then associates data representing$57.45 with the “Bennett Patio” category and expresses a graphical andtextual representation of the $57.45 data associated with “BennettPatio.” The user may choose to repeat the steps in order to associatethe remainder of the $110.95 Home Depot® transaction with “KendylBasement.” This can be accomplished by selecting one or both of “BennettPatio” and “Kendyl Basement” for association with the transactioninformation, as shown in FIG. 11. The system then converts the graphicaland textual arrangement into a data record. The data record is in a formsuitable for at least one of: review by the user, storage in a memory,analysis or modification by the user or a processor, or exportation in aform usable by another software program or application.

EXAMPLE 7

Further to EXAMPLE 6 above, the user views the data record associatedwith “Bennett Patio” via the application, and thereafter exports thedata record to QuickBooks®.

EXAMPLE 8

Further to EXAMPLE 6 above, the user views the data record associatedwith “Bennett Patio” and uses the application's data record inputfeature to edit the data record by adding labor costs and mark-upinformation. Additionally, the user prompts the system to create aninvoice from the edited data record.

EXAMPLE 9

Further to EXAMPLE 6 above, the financial transaction data relating tothe $110.95 Home Depot® transaction includes not only the total amountpaid to the merchant ($110.95), but a variety of line-item detailstransmitted by Home Depot® to the payment device issuer via a “captureroutine” performed by Home Depot® at the end of the day during theprocess of settling with the payment device issuer. The user views anyor all of the line-item details relating to the transaction on theportable electronic device via the application, and selectivelymanipulates or tags any or each of the graphical representations of theline item as associated with the “Bennett Patio” category.

EXAMPLE 10

Further to EXAMPLE 5, the user defines a third project category using aninput form, e.g., “JAY Nursery,” and the system generates arepresentation of the “JAY Nursery” category. The user furtherdesignates “JAY Nursery” with a user-defined code identifier “052510,”representing a job code. The user prompts the system to generate a barcode including user-defined code identifier “052510” to represent “JAYNursery.” The bar code is displayable on the display of the portableelectronic device, and the user brings the portable electronic devicedisplaying the bar code to the merchant AHY Hardware to purchase toolsfor use in “JAY Nursery.” The merchant scans the bar code in conjunctionwith processing the user's credit card at the merchant's POS or otherterminal to purchase tools. The bar code data, including the identifier“092580” is linked to and transmitted with some or all of the toolpurchase transaction data for processing or storage by the financialinstitution. The application then accesses the tool purchase transactioninformation and automatically associates the transaction data linked tothe user-defined code identifier “092580” to “JAY Nursery.” As a result,the user will not need to select and categorize or otherwise manuallymanipulate graphical representations of tool purchase transaction datato associate the transaction with the category “JAY Nursery.” Oneskilled in the art will understand that the bar code need not beidentified with both a category name and a job code, but rather, can beassociated with a user-defined category in any suitable way.

While the invention has been described with reference to particularembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from thescope of the invention.

Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to theparticular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated forcarrying out this invention, but that the invention will include allembodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A expense reporting system, comprising: a portableelectronic device comprising a processor and a data storage unitconfigured to address a remote data storage unit in order to receivefinancial transaction data; an expense reporting application comprising:a transaction retrieval component operable to access the user'sfinancial transaction data and generate representations thereofdisplayable on the display of the portable electronic device; a categorygeneration engine operable to generate user-defined project categorydata and representations thereof displayable on the display of theportable electronic device; a transaction categorization engine operableto associate the user's financial transaction data with the user-definedproject category data, the transaction categorization engine beingfurther operable to associate a desired portion or percentage of theuser's financial transaction data with one or more of the user-definedproject category data, and optionally, disassociate the user's financialtransaction data from one or more associated user-defined projectcategory data; a data record generation engine operable to create a datarecord containing the user's financial transaction data with theuser-defined project category data, wherein the data record is in a formsuitable for at least one of: review, storage, modification, analysis,and exportation; and a data record manipulation component for enabling auser to at least one of: review a data record, modify a data record,store a data record, analyze a data record, and expert a data record,wherein the data record manipulation component at least enables the userto manually designate a fraction of a single transaction to beassociated or disassociated with a selected one of the user-definedproject category data representations.
 2. The system of claim , furthercomprising a bar code generation component operable to generate a barcode.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the bar code is readable at apoint of service.
 4. A computer implemented method for expensereporting, the method comprising: accessing, using a portable electronicdevice connected to a network, a user's financial transaction data;displaying representations of the accessed user's financial transactiondata on a display of the portable electronic device; defining projectcategory data and generating representations thereof displayable on thedisplay of the portable electronic device; associating, using atransaction categorization engine, a percentage or portion of the user'sfinancial transaction data, represented by selected ones of the user'sfinancial transaction representations, with one or more of theuser-defined project category data representations; creating a datarecord having the user's financial transaction data with user-definedproject category data, wherein the data record is in a form suitable forat least one of: review, storage, modification, analysis, andexportation and enabling, using a data record manipulation component,the user to manually designate a fraction of a single transaction to beassociated or disassociated with a selected one of the user-definedproject category data representations.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: enabling a user to at least one of: review a data record,modify a data record, store a data record, analyze a data record, andexport a data record.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:dis-associating selected ones of the user's financial transaction datafrom one or more associated user-defined project category data.
 7. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising: generating a bar coderepresenting a project category.
 8. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: automatically associating a user-defined project categoryrepresented by the bar code with the user's financial transaction data.9. The method of claim 4, wherein the user's financial transaction dataincludes one or more of: purchase data, product data, produce quantitydata, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendor name data, vendorpart number data, product name data, stock keeping unit (SKU) numberdata, tax data, discount data, receipt number data, universal productcode data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data, interest data,balance data, credit card data, debit card data, check data, line ofcredit access card data, line of credit transaction card data, andbalance transfer data, employee data, contractor data, balance data,spending limit data.
 10. A system for viewing and manipulating a user'sfinancial transaction data using a portable electronic device,comprising: a processor connected to a data storage unit; the datastorage unit hosting the user's financial transaction data, addressableby a network, and accessible by a remote user on a portable electronicdevice having a user input means and a display; and an applicationcomprising: a transaction retrieval component operable to access theuser's financial transaction data and generate representations thereofviewable by a user on the display; a category generation engine operableto generate user-defined project category data and representationsthereof viewable to a user on the display; a transaction categorizationengine operable to associate selected ones of the user's financialtransaction data representations with one or more of the user-definedproject category data representations, wherein the transactioncategorization engine is further operable to associate a percentage orportion of the user's financial transaction data represented by one ofthe selected ones of the user's financial transaction representationswith one or more of the user-defined project category datarepresentations; a data record generation engine operable to convert thegraphical arrangement into a data record, wherein the data record is ina form suitable for at least one of review, storage, modifications,analysis, or exportation; and a data record manipulation componentoperable to enable the user to manually designate a fraction of a singletransaction to be associated or disassociated with a selected one of theuser-defined project category data representations.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the user's financial transaction data includes any oneor more of: credit card transaction data, purchase data, product data,product quantity data, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendorname data, vendor part number data, product name data, stock keepingunit (SKU) number data, tax data, discount data, receipt number data,universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data,interest data, balance data, debit card transaction data, check data,line of credit access card data, line of credit transaction card data,and balance transfer data.
 12. The system of claim 10, furthercomprising a bar code generation component for generating a bar coderepresenting the user-defined project category data.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the bar code is readable at a point of service. 14.The system of claim 10, wherein the transaction categorization engine isfurther operable to dis-associate selected ones of the user's financialtransaction representations associated with one or more of theuser-defined project category representations.